Clothes dryer



May 3,A 1955 w. L. MORRISON 2,707,338

CLOTHES DRYER Filed July 28,' 1949 United States Patent O `CLOTHES DRYER e Willard L. Morrison, Lake Forest, Ill. Application July 28, 1949, Serial No. 107,311 3 Claims. "(Cl. 154-57) My invention relates to a clothes dryer, especially a clothes dryer that utilizes normal household air forced through the clothes by a blower `and has for one object to provide means to direct the air to the best advantage for drying the clothes without the addition of any heating means. i

Another object of the invention is to provide a shield to direct the air through the clothes and the drying area.

e `Another object of the invention is to provide a shield that can be changed in position to adjust the operation of the device to correspond with the character of clothes being dried.

Other objects will appear from time to time in the course of the specification and claims. Y i

My` invention is illustrated more or less` diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein e Figure l .is a rearelevation with the rear wall removed; 4- p Figure 2 is a `section along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective -view of the-adjustable shield or guide. e Y p Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specification and drawings. i

p In a clothes dryer such as that disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 80,184 led March 8, 1949,.I utilize ambient air brought in through the opening 1 and blow it by means of a `blower 2 through a rotating drum 3. The drum includes a perforated peripheral shell 4 through which the air passes upwards through the clothes in the` drum and out at the top of the case. The clothes are inserted in the drum through the drum opening 14 and the door 15 which is closed when the dryer is in operation.

The blower and theV drum are rotated by the same motor 5, the blower by means of the shaft 6 and the drum by means of the pulley 7 and belt 8.which travels over the pulleys 9. The rollers `10 are driven by the pulleys 9 and the drum 3 rests on the rollers 10, and rotates with them.

To achieve maximum effectiveness of the drying air within the drum, I provide a stationary shield 11 about the upstream side of the drum. This shield directs the air from below through the drum and prevents the air from by-passing the drum or passing through a part of the drum where there are no clothes. To provide proper air capacity I. have added an adjustable shield 12 to the upper edge of the xed shield. Theladjustable shield `12 can be` moved backwards or forward as desired to vary the eitective shielded area. On the edge of the adjustable shield is a exible rubber lip 13 which yieldingly engages the drum as it rotates to pre vent air escape between the drum and the shield.

The drum 4, the blower or fan 2. and the driving mechanism for both are located in the housing 24. is a partition wall which divides the housing into a pressure chamber 16 in which the motor and blower are contained and a drier chamber 17 in which the drum 4 is contained. The upper portion of the drier chamber 17 is closed by a screen 18 so that air drawn in through the opening 1 by the blower 2 is discharged from the pressure chamber through the drum to the drying chamber and thence out from the housing. The drum and the peripheral wall 2S together close the aperture between the two chambers 16 and 17.

19, 20 indicate flexible closure means which being mounted on the partition wall 25 yieldingly engage the periphery of the drum so that all the air drawn into the pressure chamber 16 must pass up through that portion of the perforate periphery of the drum which is exposed between the packing members 19 and 20 to the pressure in the pressure chamber. The path of the air is generally upward from the bottom to the top of the drum. The shields 11 and 12. prevent escape of air through the drum toward the left hand as shown in Figure l but air is free to escape from the interior of the drum into the outside portion of the drying charnber 17 through the remaining apertured periphery of the drum.

The horizontal walls which carry the llexible closure means 19 and 20 define an air discharge opening across which the foraminous drum rotates, the forami nous drum extending into and masking that opening so that air passes upwardly from the chamber 16 through the drum and this opening into the interior of the drum. The flexible closure 19 on the left hand side of the drum in Figure 1 is a fixed partition which closely encloses the drum and prevents the escape of air through the drum on the left hand side. This partition extends well above the center line of the drum and has associated with it the adjustable shield 12 which may be moved tangentially about the drum up and down to adjust the portion of the drum which is blanked oif. The drum rotates in a clockwise direction so that clothes in the drum are blown upwardly across the center of the drum away from the periphery of the drum on the left hand or masked side. The result of this is that Without the masking, air would escape without going through the clothes on the left hand sideof the drum. The clothes floating on the air column are carried up to the top of the drum and come down in clockwise direction about the top and right hand periphery of the drum. There is thus a layer of clothes always held against the outer periphery of the drum on` the side removed from the shield so that all the air forced into the clothes from below escapes into the drum through the clothes before it escapes through thel foraminous drum wall. The area of the drum covered by the shield varies depending upon the weight and type of clothes put in the drum and the volume of air circulated. Under some circumstances the shield 12 may be moved so that the drum is closed from the ilexible packing 19 all the way around to the top of the drum. Under other circumstances the shield 12 may be moved back to expose a greater portion of the drum. The heavier the load of clothes, the further back down can the shield 12 be moved. lt is necessary that the shield be moved up in such a position as shown in Figure 1 so that the entire left hand side of the drum above the packing 19 is masked but in any event the arrangement is such that no air is allowed to escape from the drum except through that part of the drum coated by and carrying the clothes whereas without the shield most of the air would escape through the side of the drum on the left where it is not. covered by clothes and most of the air would be wasted,

The width of the aperture in the peripheral wall 25' is greater than one-half the diameter of the drum so that there will be a free passage of air upwardly through the drum, through and about the clothes on the drum.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows: In the rotation of the drum, it may be seen by the path of arrows that the clothes are blown upwards as soon as they arrive above the Vertical draft of the plenum chamber. The clothes rarely, if ever, cover that portionl of the periphery of the rotating drum on the upwardly moving side. The clothes as they rotate with the drum to the lower position are blown upwards. The lighter the clothes, the more quickly they are blown upward. It is evident that the clothes seldom occupy the section of the drum which is moving upwards.

Since in order to dry the clothes the air must be brought into intimate contact with them, engaging all sides of the clothes and blowing through the porous material, it is necessary that the air be so guided that little if any of it will by-pass the clothes in the drum. Since the clothes as indicated tend to move upwardly through the central portion of the drum under the inlluence of the air passing upwardly, such clothes are blown away from the upwardly moving drum side and therefore the shields 11 and 12 are provided so that the air will be forced to move through the clothes and out through the drum on the side where the clothes are.` It is not sufcient merely that the clothes be agitated on an air current. It is necessary that the clothes lifted by the air current, held against the periphery of the drum will be subject to the movement of air through those clothes as they come down around the downwardly moving portion of the drum.

The upward `movement of the clothes, assuming air velocity and pressure to be constant, varies to some extent with the weight of the clothes being dried. Heavier clothes move upwardly less rapidly and less freely than lighter clothes so it is desirable to be able to adjust the upward limit of the blanked out portion of the drum. Therefore, the movable shield 12 may be adjusted in consonance with the loading of the drum.

When heavy clothes are being dried, the movable shield can be moved backwards because heavy clothes will rotate on the outside of the drum for a longer period and air should be directed through a larger area of the drum. When lighter Vclothes are being dried,

Y the shield can be moved forward because the lighter materials will be whisked upwards as soon as they reach the place on the drum directly above the blower. Thus by making the opening smaller more air will pass through the clothes.

It will be realized that whereas I have described and illustrated an operative device, still many changes might be made in the size, shape, number and disposition of parts without departing materially from the spirit of my invention. I wish, therefore, that my showing be taken as in a broad sense diagrammatic and illustrative rather than limiting me to my precise showing.

I claim:

l. In a clothes dryer, a housing, a foraminous drum mounted for rotation therein and closed against air passage at both ends, a partition dividing the housing into a lower pressure chamber and an upper drying chamber, the partition being apertured whereby the lower periphery of the drum extends through the partition into the pressure chamber, the width of the aperture being greater than half the diameter of the drum, packing means associated with the partition on both sides of the opening to prevent escape of air through the opening around the outer periphery of the drum, means for rotating the drum, a shield extending upwardly about the outer periphery of the drum on the upwardly traveling periphery thereof, sealing means interposed between the shield and drum whereby escape of air through the drum adjacent the shield is prevented, the remaining periphery of the drum being open for free air passage, the drying chamber being apertured for the escape of air, means for adjusting the peripheral extent of the shield.

2. In a clothes dryer, a generally rectangular housing, an apertured horizontal partition wall dividing the housing into a lower pressure and an upper drying chamber, a drum, having a generally cylindrical foraminous wall, mounted for rotation in the upper chamber and extending across and closing the aperture in the horizontal wall, means for supplying air under pressure to the pressure chamber for discharge through the drum into the drying chamber, packing means interposed between the boundaries of the chamber and the drum walls whereby movement of air from thepressure to the drying chamber is constrained to passage through the foraminous cylindrical wall, the periphery of the drum being-inwardly spaced from the walls of the drying chamber for free air movement outside the drum, the drying chamber being open for free discharge of such air, a fixed curved shield extending upwardly from one side of the horizontal wall, generally concentric with and closely spaced about the upward traveling periphery of the drum, an adjustable curved shield mounted on the xed shield and movable along an arcuatepath in prolongation of the fixed shield, a packing between the forward edge of the adjustable shield and the drum whereby passage of air through the upwardly traveling periphery of the drum'is prevented.

3. In a clothes dryer, a generally rectangular housing, an apertured horizontal partition wall dividing the housingV into a lower pressure and an upper drying chamber, a drum, havingfa generally cylindrical` foraminous wall, mounted for rotation in the upper chamber and extending across and closing the aperture in the horizontal wall, means for supplying air under pressure to the pressure chamber for discharge through the drum into the drying chamber, packing means interposed between the boundaries of the chamber and the drum walls whereby movement of air from the pressure to the drying chamber is constrained to passage through the foraminous cylindrical wall, the periphery of the drum being inwardly spaced from the walls of the drying chamber for free air movement outside the drum, the drying chamber being open for free discharge of such air, a lixed curved shield extending upwardly from one side of the horizontal wall, generally concentric with and closely spaced about the upward traveling periphery of the drum, an adjustable curved shield mounted on the fixed shield and movable along an arcuate path in prolongation of the tixed shield, a packing between the forward edge of the adjustable shield and the drum whereby passage of air through the upwardly traveling periphery of the drum is prevented, cleats extending inwardly from the foraminous cylindrical drum wall along generally radial lines, the central portion of the drum between such cleats being free and unobstructed.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 825,407 Nash July 10, 1906 2,029,117 Otis Ian. 28, 1936 2,403,630 Blunk July 9, 1946 2,434,476 Wales Jan. 13, 1948 2,451,206 Ellis Oct. l2, 1948 

